Appeared First in the Beacon The Newspaper for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson February 20, 2020 By CECILE PAGLIARULO

Former resident of men’s halfway house at Straight and Narrow gets his smile back

PATERSON There’s a reason why Bruce is smiling a lot more these days. He has been clean and sober for 20 months and he literally has a new smile after receiving a new set of dentures thanks to the efforts of Diocesan Catholic Charities and Eva’s Village.

“This is the best day of my life in a long time. I have my smile back,” he told those who helped him get his new dentures and his life back. “I’m going to take a lot of selfies. I feel great.”

Bruce’s journey to recovery is unique. He was a client at Straight and Narrow and he was among the 50 men, who were living at the 410 Straight Street here when a five-alarm fire completely destroyed the halfway house on Aug. 24. As a result of the fire, many of the men lost everything they owned – important documents, jewelry, watches and sneakers. Bruce lost his dentures. During the fire, he was at work and happened to not wear his dentures that day.

Patricia Rizzo, employment specialist of the men’s halfway house at Straight and Narrow, said, “There was something significant about Bruce’s story. While all the men lost something, Bruce lost his smile in a sense and we knew we had to help. It is amazing how we put the word out and this community came together. It was a chain reaction of help.”

Because Bruce was successfully graduating after 16 months of treatment from the halfway house program, a few days after the fire, he would no longer be considered a client of Straight and Narrow and he didn’t know how he would get a replacement.

Milliken recalls learning about Bruce’s situation even keeping a hand written note from Bruce on a piece of scrap paper. Millken said, “A day after the fire I was just about to speak about the situation and he slipped me a note. One line struck me. Bruce wrote, ‘Please don’t forget about me.’”

After five months without his dentures, Bruce received a brand new and better set of dentures due to the undertaking of volunteers from all three Catholic Charities agencies – Straight and Narrow (SN), Catholic Family and Community Services (CFCS) and Department for Persons with Disabilities (DPD). In addition, Eva’s Village was instrumental in helping Bruce get his dentures through services from its medical and dental clinic.

One of the issues which required the help of volunteers was transportation. Since Bruce was returning back home after treatment, his home was two hours away in Burlington County. The volunteer dentist was in Paterson with appointments in the morning. Milliken sent out an email to all agencies looking for drivers.

Joe Wickham, maintenance supervisor at DPD, read the email and thought his wife would be willing to volunteer. Debbie Wickham, who recently retired, has volunteered to drive the sister students at Assumption College for Sisters in Denville to their doctor’s appointments in the past.

Debbie Wickham, who serves as director of religious education at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Oak Ridge, agree to take on the task. She would wake up at 3 a.m. to make sure Bruce got to his appointments on time. “I love to drive and was happy to help. The hardest part wasn’t waking up early but getting to bed early,” she laughed.

Her husband added, “His story hit close to him. I think everyone knows someone who has been affected by drugs.”

On the return trip home, Archie Burrell, community support case manager at CFCS volunteered to drive Bruce back home. The trips totaled four roundtrips in order for Bruce to receive his new dentures.

Both the Wickham couple and Burrell now consider Bruce a friend. Burrell said, “It was a pleasure to help. When I first met Bruce, I just remember meeting a guy that was really respectful and appreciative. We would have dinner after the trips and I got to know him.”

For Bruce looking back 21 months ago, he would have never expected this outpouring of support from complete strangers. He had been addicted to drugs for 30 years and he has been in prison three times and each time he returned home, he was back using drugs. The reason why he needed dentures in the first place was because three years ago he was assaulted and woke up from a coma without most of his teeth.

At his last meeting with a judge in drug court, Bruce said, “I begged the judge, ‘Do not send me back to prison. What I need is help. Please give me some help. I want help.’ I realized this last time that this is real. This is life or death and I didn’t want to die.”

The judge sent Bruce miles and miles away from home to Straight and Narrow, where Bruce admits he wasn’t the easiest resident and resisted for any help at first. He said, “In the beginning of my treatment at Straight and Narrow, I remember saying I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. But through the process, I started learning about myself and Straight and Narrow saved my life.”

Ruth Jean Marie, senior clinical director at SN, said, “We work with a client’s potential and guide them to fight for their recovery. Bruce reached out for help and he was active in changing his life. I pray you continue fight, Bruce.”

Currently, the residents of the halfway house are in Passaic and the staff at SN still considers it a miracle no one was injured. Rizzo said, “Two men were sleeping at the time and one was in the shower. As the last man was leaving, the building was completely engulfed.”

Milliken said giving a brief update on the aftermath of the fire during the meeting with Bruce, “We are going to rebuild the halfway house so men like Bruce continue the receive the treatment they need. We are in the final stages of approving an architect for the project. We’re rebuilding from scratch and it is providing us with a great opportunity to create a place that fully meets the needs of the clients and make the building more functional.”

As for Bruce, he said, “I am so grateful to Catholic Charities and Eva’s Village. This boosts my self-esteem and I will never forget what they have done for me.”